Comparison

The Checkbook vs SpendCircle

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

The Checkbook

Manage your finances on the go with this transaction tracker. Easily record income and expenses, schedule upcoming bills, and reconcile with your bank statements for accurate balance tracking. Offers multiple accounts, customizable themes, and secure access.

Highlights
  • Real-time transaction tracking
  • Upcoming bill and deposit scheduling
  • Bank account reconciliation
  • Multiple account management
  • Customizable color themes
  • Transaction search and filtering
  • Recurring transaction setup
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Finance At Your Fingertips Track your financial transactions on-the-go in real time. Enter upcoming bill payments and deposits to see how your account balance will change. Reconcile each transaction against your bank account to balance your checkbook and ensure accuracy to the penny. * No ads. * Quick entry screen for new transactions to keep up with spending while you're on the move. * Create a new transaction in seconds with type ahead feature for common transactions. * Manage transactions in multiple accounts. * Customize color theme for each account. * Search for transactions. * Toggle visibility of reconciled transactions to see what hasn't cleared your bank account yet. * Set up recurring transactions. * Transfer money between accounts. * Basic reporting to view spending or income by category and daily spending. * Export transactions to CSV file. * Enable Face ID / Touch ID to secure access to your financial data. * Turn on iCloud Drive data storage to sync transactions across multiple devices. * Share every new transaction with a joint account owner via email or Shared Storage (subscription required) to keep app in sync for different users. Privacy Note: The developer does not collect any data from this app for the default local device or iCloud storage options. The developer only securely stores data for the Shared Storage option (subscription required) for the purpose of sharing and syncing the data with your invited users. See Privacy Policy for more details.

About

SpendCircle

This app helps families track household expenses together, providing a shared view of spending to improve financial habits. Users can define custom categories, add notes, and gain insights into where money is going. The goal is to reduce wasteful spending and prioritize important purchases.

Highlights
  • Shared family spending view
  • Expense tracking in real-time
  • Customizable spending categories
  • Detailed expense notes
  • Accountability for family members
  • Spending habit building
Features
Read full description

Bewildered by your monthly household spending? With multiple credit card closing cycles and spending family members, it's impossible to keep track. And you can't manage what you can't track! With SpendCircle, your entire family shares a common view of spending. Track expenses as they happen, keep each other accountable and build good spending habits.  Define your own spending categories, make detailed notes, and get a deep understanding of your family spending. Motivate your family to reduce wasteful spending and make room for the things that matter!

Screenshots

The Checkbook4 screens
SpendCircle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SpendCircle at Free against The Checkbook's $4.99. SpendCircle also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). The Checkbook's advantage is ratings volume (970 vs 2) and chart position (#55 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

SpendCircle is free to download; The Checkbook costs $4.99 up front. The Checkbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and SpendCircle sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SpendCircle holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Checkbook has 970 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of The Checkbook's written reviews are positive against 100% of SpendCircle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Checkbook ships an update fortnightly, SpendCircle every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
The Checkbook versus SpendCircle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe CheckbookSpendCircle
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (970 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings970 — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
Best chart rank#55 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFour One Four 213, LLCClaredat LLC

Customer experience

The Checkbook

All ratings970 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral9.2%
Negative14.7%

SpendCircle

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

The Checkbook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Data loss and sync issues
  • Incorrect transaction display
  • Recurring transactions not working as expected

Requested features

6 requests
  • 📊 Spending reports and analytics
  • 🔁 More recurring transaction options
  • 🖨️ Check printing capability
  • 🔀 Ability to split transactions
  • 🔄 Easier transaction editing/deletion
Show 1 more
  • 🔒 Backup and restore options

SpendCircle

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

The Checkbook

Subscriptions2
  • Shared Storage - Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Shared Storage - Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
1 purchases

SpendCircle

Subscriptions1
  • 1-Month Free | Annual Plan1 Month trial$1.991 Year

Questions

Is The Checkbook free?
The Checkbook costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is SpendCircle free?
SpendCircle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, The Checkbook or SpendCircle?
SpendCircle is rated higher. The Checkbook averages 4.8 out of 5 from 970 ratings, while SpendCircle averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do The Checkbook or SpendCircle have ads?
Neither The Checkbook nor SpendCircle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Checkbook or SpendCircle?
The Checkbook ships an update fortnightly, and SpendCircle every 2 weeks. Most recently, The Checkbook was updated on October 17, 2026 and SpendCircle on October 14, 2026.

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